Foot cushioning and supporting device



Nov. 7, 1961 w. M. SCHOLL 3,

FOOT CUSHIONING AND SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed. Nov. 12, 1959 WWW;

' 'M/z'lliam M sm 17 La 7% "kw-#463 3,007,474 Patented Nov. 7, 1961 3,007,474 FOOT CUSHIONING AND SUPPORTING DEVICE William M. Scholl, 211-213 W. Schiller St., Chicago, Ill. Filed Nov. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 852,263 1 Claim. (Cl. 128586) This invention relates to improvements in a foot cushioning and supporting device or appliance of the type positioned in an article of footwear beneath the plantar surface of the human foot, the device or appliance being highly desirable for cushioning as much of the plantar surface of the foot as may be desired, and giving support to the joints of the metatarsal arch, although the invention may have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, many and various types of metatarsal arch supporting devices or lifts have been provided for disposition inside an article of footwear and for direct attachment to the foot of the user as may be preferred. In some instances, such metatarsal arch lifts were incorporated in cushion type insoles. In the first case, no cushioning was provided for the foot except beneath the central region of the metatarsal arch if the lift was of the cushioning type.

In the second case, all metatarsal heads of the foot were cushioned by the insole, while the lift may act simultaneously to give added support to the intermediate portion of the metatarsal arch. Relatively rigid metatarsal lifts used alone without any cushioning benefit frequently caused great discomfort; and cushion insoles provided with a metatarsal lift failed to relieve pressure on the first and fifth metatarsal heads, the forward bearing points of the foot. Not any of these formerly known insole type appliances equipped with metatarsal lifts were constructed to drop the first and fifth metatarsal heads and give mild but sufiicient support to the metatarsal arch joints therebetween, while at the same time cushioning the plantar surface of the foot.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a foot cushioning and supporting appliance capable of cushioning the plantar surface of the foot except for the normal weight carrying points, the first and fifth metatarsal heads, and at the same time give comfortable and yet sufiicient and corrective support to the joints of the metatarsal arch.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a foot cushioning and supporting appliance capable of cushioning the plantar surface of the foot, dropping the first and fifth metatarsal heads, and also give corrective support to the metatarsal arch of the foot, the device being readily manufactured to provide a desired degree of firmness to the metatarsal supporting part of the device.

A further feature of this invention resides in the provision of a foot cushioning and supporting device shaped to drop the first and fifth metatarsal heads and also lend corrective support to the joints of the metatarsal arch, the device being so constructed that it will not wrinkle and not develop permanent creases in use.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a foot cushioning and supporting appliance embodying principles of the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the structure of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view longitudinally of the device taken substantially as indicated by the staggered section line IlI-III of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar in character to FIGURE 3, but showing a slightly different form of construction.

As shown on the drawing:

The illustrated embodiments of the instant invention are of the insole type of cushioning and supporting appliances, for free disposition in an article of footwear beneath the plantar surface of the foot. However, they may be of substantially any desired length so as to underlie whatever portion of the plantar surface of the foot may be desired. That is, the device or appliance may be in the form of a full length insole, a foreshortened insole terminating to the rear of the phalanges, or an insole extending clear to the forward portion of the foot but terminating in front of the 0s calcis. The device has an outline generally in keeping with that of the human foot, the illustrated embodiment being for disposition beneath the left foot, and it will be understood that an allochiral structure will be provided for the right foot.

While the appliance may be made of substantially any suitable material, the cushioning layer of felt, foam latex, or the equivalent, and the cover layer of fabric, leather, imitation leather or the equivalent, it is preferable to utilize a polyvinyl or polyurethane foam for the cushioning layer and a plastic film, such as an unsupported vinyl film for the cover layer, for reasons that will later appear. Accordingly, the illustrated embodiments of the invention will be herein described as made of such plastic materials.

The first illustrated embodiment seen in FIGURES l to 3 inclusive comprises an underlayer 1 of cushioning material such as plastic foam, and a cover layer 2 of a plastic film. The layers are substantially coextensive and are joined together by a heat seal seam 3 defining the bounding edge of the device. To unite the layers a known type of electronic heat sealing press may be utilized with a die shaped in accordance with the desired outline or bounding edge of the device. With such a machine and such a die, a fine line heat seal seam is provided with the foam material curving toward the seam so that the device better fits within a shoe and compensates for the abrupt joint between the upper and sole of a shoe. The layers 1 and 2 are preferably not otherwise connected with each other, whereupon there can be relative movement between them, thus eliminating the probability of wrinkles or creases forming in the device during usage. Further, the device is ventilative in character by virtue of the inter communicating cells in the plastic foam underlayer 1.

Now with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be seen that the layers are notched or cut away to provide a notch or indentation 4 at the inside edge of the device and a notch or indentation 4a at the outside edge of the device. These notches are positioned to drop the first and fifth metatarsal heads of the foot, and accordingly the notch 4' on the inside is farther forward than the notch 4a on the outside in keeping with the shape of the metatarsal arch of the foot.

Between the notches 4 and 4a a metatarsal lift 5 is disposed. Preferably this lift 5 is located also between the upper and lower sheets or layers 1 and 2 as seen in FIGURE 3. The lift may be of any suitable material, and where a mild support for the metatarsal arch is desired, the lift may suitably be of the same material as the underlayer 1, namely, a plastic foam. The lift is preferably connected to the cover layer 2 only by a heat seal seam 6 around the bounding edge of the lift. This leaves the underface of the bottom layer 1 free of any dis- 7 ruption so that it will better cling to the built in insole of a shoe and also avoid wrinkling.

In use, the device may be freely disposed in an article of footwear such as a shoe. When the foot is placed on the device, the forward bearing points, namely the first and fifth metatarsal heads are disposed off the device in the notches 4 and 4a respectively. This dropping of the first and fifth metatarsal heads relieves them of pressure, and permits the lift 5 to act against the intermediate joints of the arch so as to correctly support that arch in the right location. At the same time, other parts of the plantar surface of the foot with the exception of the bearing points are cushioned, with the result that the foot is properly supported in a comfortable and beneficial manner with corrective aid being given the metatarsal arch without aggravation to the wearer. With the instant invention milder support may be given to the metatarsal arch with the same beneficial results as heretofore could only be obtained with relatively rigid and much firmer support.

In the event firmer support is indicated by way of a weakened condition of the metatarsal arch in a particular foot, such firmer support may be readily provided by utilizing a lift 7 seen in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, which lift may be made of different and firmer material such as felt, cork, sponge rubber, or other suitable substances. This lift could also be made of a plastic foam of more density than the lift 5 above described. Where the lift 7 is not of heat scalable material, it may be held in position by a heat seal seam 8 surrounding the lift and joining together the upper and lower layers or sheets 1 and 2 as seen in FIGURE 4. in the embodiment of FIGURE 4, the sheets or layers 1 and 2 are preferably unattached except for the heat seal seams 3 and 8.

The instant invention is highly durable, may be economically manufactured and economically used by virtue of its long life, is ventilative in character, light in Weight, and may be laundered when desired.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

In a foot cushioning appliance, a plastic cover sheet, a thicker plastic foam cushioning sheet coextensive with and underlying the cover sheet, a smaller plastic foam cushioning element positioned between said sheets in an intermediate location, a fused joint securing said sheets together at their edges, and a fusion joint securing one of said sheets to the margin only of said element while leaving the element otherwise unattached to said sheets and holding said element in fixed position relative to said one sheet, said cover sheet and cushioning sheet together constituting an insole for underlying substantially the entire plantar surface of the foot, said insole having a forward portion curved to underlie the phalanges and having recesses on both sides thereof rearwardly of said forward portion to form notches positioned to drop the first and fifth metatarsal heads of the foot, the notch on the inside being farther forward than the notch on the outside in keeping with the metatarsal arch of the foot, said smaller plastic foam cushioning element comprising a metatarsal lift disposed between said notches to provide support for the metatarsal arch, and the margin of said insole comprising a forward curved margin portion and generally rearwardly extending gradually diverging margin portions joining forwardly thereof with the respective inner and outer sides of the forward curved margin portion, and with said forward curved margin portion defining said forward portion of said insole and conforming in contour to the entire forward portion of the plantar surface of the foot, the margin of said insole further comprising inwardly curving portions joining forwardly thereof with said gradually diverging margin portions and curving inwardly toward the center of the insole and generally rearwardly, and further comprising outwardly curving portions joining forwardly thereof with the rearmost parts of the inwardly curving margin portions and curving outwardly away from the center of the insole and generally rearwardly, the inwardly and outwardly curving margin portions together defining said notches and the margin of said insole further comprising generally rearwardly extending portions connecting forwardly thereof with the rearmost parts of the outwardly curving margin portions and extending generally rearwardly with a spacing in the transverse direction between the generally rearwardly extending portions corresponding substantially to the width of the plantar surface of the foot and defining a rear portion of the insole behind said notches for supporting the metatarsal bones including the first and fifth metatarsal bones rearwardly of the heads thereof.

Madinger Feb. 19, 1935 Scholl Dec. 22, 1959 

